Challenges in evaluating cognitive impairment in diabetics in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Dementia is a global public health issue, with 57.5 million people living with at least one type of dementia in 2019 worldwide, and projected to rise to 152 million by 2050.

We assessed the cognitive function in diabetic patients aged 60 or older in Bukavu city, in the eastern Republic of the Congo (DRC).

This case-control study involved 123 patients with established diabetes mellitus (DM) and 123 controls over 60-year-olds also with high rates of illiteracy. Cognitive function was assessed using the Swahili version of the Community Screening Instrument for Dementia (CSI-D).

Foremost, our study revealed language-related differences between Swahili spoken in other eastern African countries such as Tanzania and Kenya, where the Swahili CSI-D is readily applied, compared to the Swahili spoken in Bukavu (DRC). Our results also showed that cognitive impairment was present in 18.7% of the total 246 participants. Remarkably, the prevalence rate of cognitive impairment was higher in the non-diabetic group (12.2 versus 25.2%; p=0.009). Participants aged 80 or older were more likely to present with cognitive impairment compared to those aged less than 80 (adjusted odds ratio - aOR=70.27; 95% confidence interval - 95%CI 3.94-125.15; p=0.004). We also found that patients living with DM for more than 20 years were three times more likely to be impaired compared to those who were recently diagnosed with DM (aOR=3.63; 95%CI 1.70-18.81; p=0.026).

This study revealed that cognitive impairment was relatively high in Bukavu city. It emphasizes the lack of effective tools to assess cognitive function. This requires, therefore, that research be adapted to the intellect and cultural experiences of the patients.